by John Glatt
* * *
On Wednesday morning, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation announced it would conduct a “thorough review” of the incident, to determine exactly what happened. Many questions were being asked about how Ariel Castro was able to commit suicide while under maximum security. There were even reports that guards had turned a blind eye and let him kill himself.
Even more embarrassing was that, only three weeks earlier, convicted killer Billy Slagle had hung himself in his cell at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, just forty miles south of Orient. Three days away from his execution by lethal injection, Slagle had left a suicide note, asking how Ariel Castro had avoided the death penalty and he had not.
On the Today show, defense attorney Craig Weintraub claimed that he had warned the Ohio prison authorities several times that Ariel Castro was a suicide risk, but no one had taken any notice.
“There is no doubt that he had psychological problems … and was deeply disturbed,” he told reporter Willie Geist. “I understand the public in general is probably going to say, ‘Well, good riddance.’ But this is a human being, we are in a civilized society, and we expect that the person will be protected when they’re institutionalized. I would doubt the prison officials would dispute that they have an obligation to ensure that there won’t be a suicide or anything else. And we pray that there wasn’t anything else.”
Prosecutor Tim McGinty told reporters that Ariel Castro had taken the coward’s way out.
“This man couldn’t take, even for a month, a small portion of what he had dished out for more than a decade,” said McGinty.
Michelle Knight agreed, saying that she understood why he had hung himself.
“He couldn’t face what he did with his head held up high,” she said. “He had to face it like a coward because he was ashamed and embarrassed of what he had done. And he didn’t want what he did to us to happen to him.”
EPILOGUE
In the wake of Ariel Castro’s suicide, the Ohio branch of the American Civil Liberties Union called for a full investigation into his death. And the Ohio authorities announced two separate investigations: one to examine the circumstances of his death, and the other to determine if he had received adequate medical and psychological care prior to his death.
Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak said that an autopsy on Ariel Castro’s body had determined his death was a “hanging suicide.” She noted depressions on his wrists, injuries to his neck and chin, and that he had bitten his tongue as he died. It also revealed that the five-foot-seven-inch Castro weighed 168 pounds, ten pounds less than when he had arrived at Lima, almost a month earlier.
On Friday morning, as Castro’s body was released to his family, Today aired part of his interrogation video, which had been leaked. Castro spoke about an early close call soon after he had snatched Michelle, when Lillian Roldan had asked him why a television upstairs was turned on. After watching the Today piece, Roldan said she could not even remember the incident.
Over the next few weeks, Anthony Castro devoted himself to finding a cemetery that would take his father’s remains, but was turned down again and again.
“Anthony is trying to work the body,” said Cesi Castro, “but I don’t know how he’s doing it.”
* * *
By October 1, the Cleveland Courage Fund stood at $1.4 million and still growing daily. A week later, the Ohio Department for Rehabilitation and Correction published its findings. It made lurid headlines by speculating whether Ariel Castro might have died of autoerotic asphyxiation, as he was found naked from the waist down.
Coroner Jan Gorniak scoffed at the idea of Castro accidentally killing himself, trying to get a sexual thrill by depriving the brain of oxygen during masturbation.
“I did the autopsy myself,” she told CNN. “I saw the ligature. I saw the pictures of the cell. It was a suicide.”
The report also criticized prison guards for failing to check his cell at least eight times on the day he died, and then falsifying logbooks to cover it up.
In mid-October, Dr. Phil McGraw arrived in Cleveland to interview Michelle Knight for a two-part special. She was seen filming with Dr. Phil at the Family Dollar store from where she was abducted, later posing for photographs with Commander Keith Sulzer and other Cleveland police officers.
“Michelle Knight’s story of horror and courageous survival almost defied description,” read a press release from Dr. Phil, “and has changed me like no other in twelve years of doing the show. Her dark journey from victim to victor is beyond compelling.”
At the end of October, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus signed a book deal to tell their story. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, was brokered by the Jones Day law firm. Michelle was invited to participate but declined, as she now had her own attorney handling her affairs.
In early November, soon after the Dr. Phil special was aired to huge ratings, Michelle Knight signed her own book deal, to write a memoir with a ghostwriter to be published on the first anniversary of her escape.
That Thanksgiving, Michelle moved out of the halfway house and into her own apartment in a fashionable part of Cleveland. Since her escape she had started getting tattooed and pierced as a therapeutic symbol of her newfound freedom.
She had also started boxing and regularly practiced on a red punching bag, with Ariel Castro’s face drawn on it in Magic Marker.
“I just wanted to put his face right here,” she told The Guardian, “and hit it.”
She also announced plans to change her name to Lily, her favorite flower, and was writing her own songs and recording them in a Cleveland studio. But her real passion was cooking, and Michelle told People magazine she wanted to open her own “multicultural” restaurant, serving different dishes from around the world.
Michelle had also been in touch with her son Joey’s adoptive parents, and had been sent photographs of him as a teenager. But for the moment she had agreed not to contact him until his adoptive parents were ready, as it would be too unsettling.
* * *
Fernando Colon hired a lawyer to handle his appeal against his conviction for molesting Emily and Arlene Castro, and is still awaiting a date for it to be heard.
* * *
On May 6, 2014—the first anniversary of the escape—Michelle Knight, now thirty-three, officially forgave Ariel Castro. In an interview with Savannah Guthrie of the Today show to promote her new book, Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed, Michelle said she no longer bore him any grudges.
“If I did something wrong,” she explained, “even if it was a small thing, I would want somebody to forgive me. So I can forgive him for what he’s done wrong because that’s the way of life.”
That afternoon, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus and their families went to the White House, where they met President Barak Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. After a VIP tour of the White House followed by lunch, they posed for photographs in the Oval Office with the president and the vice president, who congratulated them on their bravery and fortitude.
That night, Amanda and Gina were guests of honor at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s annual Hope Awards dinner. During the glittering evening, Amanda, who looked glamorous in a fashionable evening gown, delivered a speech to the guests.
“If I could only say one thing,” she said, fighting back tears, “it would be this: Never give up hope, because miracles do happen.”
Then the crowd rose to their feet for a standing ovation.
The mountain in Duey, Puerto Rico, which was owned by the Castro Family. (Courtesy John Glatt)
The shack in Duey where Ariel Castro was born. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Ariel Castro was one of the top Latin bassists in Cleveland and often played with his best friend Tito DeJesus, who is pictured bottom left. (Courtesy Tito DeJesus)
Ariel Castro and other Latin performers at a show in Cleveland. (Courtesy Tito DeJesus)
When he started going bald, vain Ariel Castro shaved
his head. (Courtesy Tito DeJesus)
Most Saturday nights Castro would perform with various salsa bands at Belinda’s Club. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Castro’s house at 2207 Seymour Avenue, where he kept his three prisoners for more than a decade. (Courtesy Dan Callister)
Lillian Roldan pictured inside 2207 Seymour Avenue in 2002 with Castro, who she dated for more than three years. (Courtesy Lillian Roldan)
Lillian shows off her matching tattoo that she got with Castro as a show of their love. (Courtesy Lillian Roldan)
During their three year relationship, Lillian often spent the night at 2207 Seymour Avenue, totally unaware that Michelle Knight was imprisoned there. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Amanda Berry before she was kidnapped. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Castro kidnapped Gina DeJesus after seeing her outside school with his youngest daughter Arlene, who was her best friend. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Ariel Castro’s aunt Monserrate Baez, who knew him as a young boy, still lives in Duey. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Just days after abducting Gina, Castro wrote out a confession letter, describing himself as “a sexual predator.” (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The washing machine in the basement which contained thousands of dollars in cash, that Castro threw at his victims after raping them. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Investigators found more than 99 feet of rusty chains in 2207 Seymour Avenue, which had been used to restrain the three women. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The motorcycle helmet which Castro made his victims wear for days at a time to muffle their screams. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The pole in the basement where Castro chained up his three terrified victims after kidnapped them. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Cleveland Councilman Brian Cummings outside the Burger King where Amanda worked. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Fernando Colon incurred Ariel Castro’s wrath after Nilda Figueroa took their four children and moved in with him. Later Castro took his two youngest daughters to Cleveland Police, where they accused Colon of sexually molesting them. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Castro’s Uncle Cesi’s bodega, just a couple of blocks away from 2207 Seymour Avenue. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Amanda and Jocelyn’s bedroom was full of toys. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Amanda taught her daughter Jocelyn in their bedroom and put up her artwork on the wall. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Gina DeJesus’s missing poster. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Castro regularly used his Luger revolver to terrify his three prisoners, playing games of Russian Roulette with them. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The stairs leading down to the basement at 2207 Seymour Avenue. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The only bathroom at 2207 Seymour Avenue which Castro rarely let his prisoners use. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, where Ariel Castro kept three women imprisoned for a decade without any of his neighbors suspecting a thing. (Courtesy John Glatt)
The heavy curtain at the top of the stairs which Castro hung up to hide the bedrooms where he held his prisoners. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The filthy mattress which Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus shared was infested with bed bugs. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The McDonald’s where Ariel Castro was arrested with his brother Onil. (Courtesy John Glatt)
Ariel Castro’s mug shot after his arrest. (Courtesy Cleveland Police)
Amanda Berry on the day she escaped. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
The day after her escape, Amanda was interviewed by Cleveland detectives. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Gina DeJesus just hours after she escaped from 2207 Seymour Avenue. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Police mug shots of the three Castro brothers. Left to right: Onil, Ariel, and Pedro. (Courtesy Cleveland Police)
A scale model of 2207 Seymour Avenue, which was displayed in the courtroom at Ariel Castro’s sentencing. (Courtesy The Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office)
Michelle Knight bravely confronted her abductor at his sentencing, telling him he would “face hell for eternity.” (Courtesy the court video pool)
Ariel Castro was sentenced to life without parole plus one thousand years for his horrendous crimes. (Courtesy The Ohio Department of Corrections)
The site where 2207 Seymour Avenue once stood after it was razed to the ground. (Courtesy John Glatt)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOHN GLATT is the author of twenty-one books and has more than thirty years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including Dateline NBC, Fox News, A Current Affair, BBC World News, and A&E Biography.
Visit him at www.johnglatt.com or sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY JOHN GLATT
The Prince of Paradise
Love Her to Death
Lost and Found
Playing with Fire
Secrets in the Cellar
To Have and to Kill
Forgive Me, Father
The Doctor’s Wife
One Deadly Night
Depraved
Cries in the Desert
For I Have Sinned
Evil Twins
Cradle of Death
Blind Passion
Deadly American Beauty
Never Leave Me
Twisted
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part One ARIEL CASTRO
1. Roots
2. Nilda
3. 2207 Seymour Avenue
4. Breaking Free
5. Lillian
Part Two THE VANISHINGS
6. Michelle
7. “I Think I Know You”
8. Amanda
9. “I Have Your Daughter”
10. Gina
11. The Search
12. “Somebody Knows Where Amanda Is”
13. Revenge
14. “She’s Not Alive, Honey”
15. Frame-Up
16. Witness for the Prosecution: Ariel Castro
17. “She Died of a Broken Heart”
18. Miracle at Christmas
19. A Narrow Escape
20. AMINA’s Law
21. “Did They Ever Find Your Cousin Yet?”
22. Terminated
23. “Miracles Really Do Happen”
Part Three FREEDOM
24. Deliverance From Evil
25. “Dead Giveaway”
26. “The Nightmare Is Over”
27. Mother’s Day
28. “This Child Kidnapper Operated a Torture Chamber”
29. “The Monster’s a Goner”
30. “The Best Defense We Can”
31. Indicted!
32. “He’s Never Coming Out Except Nailed in a Box”
33. “The Scope and Magnitude of Ariel Castro’s Crime is Unprecedented”
34. “I Am
Not a Monster”
35. Yellow Balloons
36. Retribution
Epilogue
Photographs
About the Author
Also by John Glatt
Copyright
THE LOST GIRLS. Copyright © 2015 by John Glatt. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Danielle Christopher
Cover Photographs: Background image © Emmanuel Dunand/Getty images, Michelle Knight © James Ford Rhodes HS/Splash/Splash News/Corbis, Amanda Berry and Gina Dejesus © FBI/Splash News/Corbis
